The Official Beer Thread

[kwilkinson]



THIS. Come on Kyle. Its actually not that hard. You just have to play to your audience. In NY/Chi/LA, yea you could probably pull that off. In bumfuck, Indiana, you'll need to bring down the haute level a bit.

You obviously both know nothing then or maybe you just haven't ever actually experienced a restaurant or even that does it right. The old stigma of beer = bar food is long gone and I'll put it a much easier way of saying it's complete bullshit. Hell, it's become such a trend it seems like the only places opening here in Chicago are bars/restaurants that are heavily based on craft beer and cocktails. I love wine, I appreciate wine, hell half my family works in the business, but many beers have similar qualities, flavors and variances that a wine will have. Come up with a complete menu first and then maybe we can give you some suggestions. My friend works with multiple breweries every month to do a beer and dinner pairing and I'll tell you it ain't nachos and burgers, especially since he's a classically trained French chef who also may or may not work at Avec as well...

Lol. Yeah. I can totally get it from all sides here. On one hand, you guys tell me that beer is awesome and can pair with anything and is so diverse and people do this all the time and it's the most wonderful thing in the world and that i'm an idiot that knows absolutely nothing. On the other hand, I name a couple of dishes and get told that beer won't pair with it. Pick a side, bros.

 

[itsstillmatt]

My only side is the side of laughing at people who get so butthurt whenever somebody mentions that, perhaps, beer is not all that.

 

[Bhowie]



My only side is the side of laughing at people who get so butthurt whenever somebody mentions that, perhaps, beer is not all that.

**** you, bro. You know nothing.

 

[itsstillmatt]



**** you, bro. You know nothing.

Excuse me sir, is this the Delta house?

 

[erictheobscure]



Therein lies my biggest problem. People think of beer food and immediately think of bar food, or really well made sausages. I'm sitting here like WAT THE **** AM I SUPPOSED TO DO MANG

FWIW, my comment re: the ravioli wasn't so much about bar food vs. non-bar food. I just thought that pasta + potato might be just a bit too starchy for a beer dinner.

 

[indesertum]

^i disagree. potatoes and starches are just way too easy to pair with beers


Quote:
Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Okay, here are a few random thoughts for dishes. No idea if any of these will make it in.
Poached halibut with a mint and mead broth and pea tendril salad
Thinking a decent pairing with this would be a wheat-ish beer... hitachino white?
A wheat beer might work, the only thing I'm thinking is it might clash a bit with the mint. A pilsner might work better. Lagunitas makes a decent one.

Potato leek ravioli with mushroom, caramelized onion/lager puree, pickled shallot
Pale Ale? The carbonation and bolder flavor will balance out some of the heaviness, and the flavor won't be as overwhelming as an IPA.

Beer brined pork cheek with mustard sauce, white cheddar grits, asparagus
I'd do either a porter or something acidic like a lambic. Sinebrychoff or Olfabrikken make good non local porters, or of you can get Great Lakes beer, I've heard good things about Edmund Fitzgerald. As for the lambic, Lindemans Geuze Cuvee Rene would be one of the cheaper yet still good options.

I dunno. Other thoughts in my head, but none coming together as a dish, just separate components.
Oh and for mignardises, I'm going to make a little porter candy and an IPA caramel. Kinda excited about that one.

People will probably come along to tell me how wrong and stupid I am, but those are my first thoughts.

these are great ideas.i think a really fruity, herbally, flowery ipa that's not that bitter would work well with the first course as well. ithaca flower power, heady topper, nugget nectar, something along those lines.

i think a gueuze is a great idea for the pork.


also be careful about cooking with IPAs as the bitterness intensifies as the beer reduces.

 

[indesertum]



Lol. Yeah. I can totally get it from all sides here. On one hand, you guys tell me that beer is awesome and can pair with anything and is so diverse and people do this all the time and it's the most wonderful thing in the world and that i'm an idiot that knows absolutely nothing. On the other hand, I name a couple of dishes and get told that beer won't pair with it. Pick a side, bros.

i dont know who said the latter part, but you could honestly pick a random beer out of your distributor's arsenal and it would probably pair well with every dish you picked.

if not by geography the best way to do it would be by light vs heavy. light beers with light food. heavy beers with heavy food keeping in mind bitterness from hops

My only side is the side of laughing at people who get so butthurt whenever somebody mentions that, perhaps, beer is not all that.

it's not so much getting butthurt as it is kind of exasperating. it would be like calling all the reactions to somebody claiming wine doesn't pair well with food butthurt

 

[mordecai]

Who is worse? The beer expert or the coffee expert?

 

[itsstillmatt]



it's not so much getting butthurt as it is kind of exasperating. it would be like calling all the reactions to somebody claiming wine doesn't pair well with food butthurt

I'm not counting you in that group. Also, I'd argue it is not like the same with wine. Wine's place at the dinner table is not in doubt, so somebody who questioned it would seem like a fool. Beer's is, so you are going to run into a lot of self satisfied people who think beer is only for dogs and burgers. They might be wrong, but you have to expect the reaction.

Also, a lot of it has to do with the food you enjoy. New American food is beer friendly because it has hearty, somewhat loud (even crude-no hate) flavors. That allows for a beer with character. Not all food is this way, and some would be overpowered by anything heavier than a Corona, which nobody wants to drink with a good meal.

 

[erictheobscure]



Who is worse? The beer expert or the coffee expert?

Coffee.

 

[kwilkinson]

Is my food New AmeRican? Some distributor asked me my style of cooking and I just replied New American because it seems like a catch-all for what chefs call their fooe. I think my cooking is too varied to actually name it. I amke whatever I would want to eat. What dobyou define new american as, matt?

 

[texas_jack]

Beer goes with everything just like wine goes with everything. It just a matter of creativity.

 

[itsstillmatt]



Coffee.

Who doesn't like a good cupping in the morning?

 

[indesertum]



Who doesn't like a good cupping in the morning?

TWSS

 

[itsstillmatt]



Is my food New AmeRican? Some distributor asked me my style of cooking and I just replied New American because it seems like a catch-all for what chefs call their fooe. I think my cooking is too varied to actually name it. I amke whatever I would want to eat. What dobyou define new american as, matt?

Food without boundaries or roots.

Really, I guess you could break it in two. The high end Alinea, EMP, thousand things on a plate stuff that is either ****, or is done by Alinea or (apparently) EMP. The other, to me, is the trend toward locavore "haute stoner" food. Just a bunch of big flavors somebody thought would go well together because they sounded cool on a menu.